President Muhammadu Buhari, seems to be unstable, as more Nigerians have thrown their weight behind the former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili’s Bring Back Our Girls Group.
This is coming just as the Nigerian Police had placed a ban on the group’s public protest in the Federal Capital Territory.
The group had in its series of campaigns and rallies, matched to the Presidential Villa, asking the President to do more to ensure the return of the over 200 girls abducted while writing their final year West African Certificate School Examinations, in Chibok community, Borno State.
Earlier on Tuesday, September 6, the group came under attack when security operatives stopped their protest, and prevented them from proceeding to the Presidential Villa, a move which has attracted wide spread condemnation.
Although, the police had denied claims that it banned the peaceful protest of the group in Abuja, the renowned Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, and Human Rights Lawyer, Femi Falana, have condemned the ban by the police.
Soyinka, while reacting, had described the ban as undemocratic, adding that the group was only exercising its fundamental rights.
Also, Falana on the other hand, described the police’s action as exposing the Nigerian government to an “avoidable embarrassment”, calling on President Buhari, to adopt all possible means towards preventing undue harassment of the group.
He said, “Since the fundamental rights of the Nigerian people… have been upheld by Nigerian courts, the illegal ban on public protests in the Federal Capital Territory, by the Inspector-General of Police, will not be allowed to stand”.
Also, a Human Rights Advocacy group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, had in a statement signed by Timothy Adewale, appealed to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, Maina Kiai, to “remind the Police Force in Nigeria that peaceful protest is lawful, as prescribed by the Nigerian constitution, and no restriction on such, should be tolerated”.
He said, “No Nigerian law makes it a crime to demonstrate in any part of the country.“Harassing the BBOG group, and stopping its members from proceeding peacefully to the seat of government is overkill.”SERAP is seriously concerned about the continuing indiscriminate, and disproportionate restriction on the right of members of the BBOG group to protest.“All Nigerians, including members of the BBOG group, have the right to freedom of expression, and to protest.“There is absolutely no reason to view these members as anything other than committed peaceful demonstrators,” SERAP noted.
Post-Nigeria gathered, that the group is currently planning another protest to the Presidential Villa, to seek explanations from the President, on efforts being made to rescue the abducted Chibok girls.
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